Can you share AirTags with family members?

What is AirTag?

The latest entry into the Apple ecosystem, AirTag is an Apple-made tracking device that can be used to track the accessories, pets, and items you carry with you. The device is designed to find items you tend to forget in your daily routine, and since it only weighs about 10 grams, you can tag it on your keys, bags, wallets, luggage, and anything else you use from a non-Apple device.

Apple’s $29 tracking device is powered by the Apple U1 chip, NFC, Bluetooth and an accelerometer. Thanks to these chips and sensors, AirTags can be tracked quickly and accurately using the Find My app on your iOS device. The tracking system is also configured with Lost Mode, which when activated notifies you when another device on your Apple network detects your item, and also allows others to obtain your contact information via NFC to return the item to you.

There is a built-in speaker that you can use to play sounds to locate AirTagged items hidden in your home. The hockey puck-shaped device has an IP67 waterproof rating, so it can survive up to 1 meter underwater for 30 minutes. AirTags are customizable and when purchased, you can choose from over 56 different emoji and icon options in addition to the letters and numbers that can be engraved on the front.

Can you share AirTags with family members?

Can't. If you've been wondering if AirTags can be shared like other things you use through Family Sharing, we hate to tell you that you can't share AirTags with other members of your family at that time. While it seems like a good idea, Apple has yet to implement the option to share AirTags with family members, something Tile and other services offer in their own lineups.

Apple’s dedicated Family Sharing service currently allows you and up to five other family members to share access to its services, including iCloud storage, Apple Music, Apple TV, shared albums on Photos, Apple News, Apple Arcade, Apple Card, iTunes, Apple Books, and App Store purchases. However, this service does not provide the ability to share AirTags registered to an account, even if the person you want to share with is a member of your family or circle of friends.

Why can’t I share AirTags with others?

Given how much Apple promotes family sharing, many of you may have assumed that AirTags can be shared with others in your family. In contrast, AirTags are supposed to be owned by one person and therefore can only be linked to one Apple ID. Due to this limitation, these devices cannot be tracked from an iPhone registered to someone else's Apple account. This means that if you share items with a family member, they will only be tracked by one person, the owner of the AirTag.

While Apple has not provided an official explanation for this restriction, we believe it has a lot to do with ensuring your privacy. Because AirTags are designed to track your personal property, some people may not want others to have access to them, and making them shareable also makes them susceptible to tracking by outside parties.

On the hardware side, AirTag relies on its Bluetooth sensor and U1 broadband chip for most of its tracking capabilities, both of which help gain access to its relative location by communicating with other Apple devices scattered across the area. . So if Apple plans to release support for Home Sharing on AirTags at any point in the future, there's nothing stopping it hardware-wise.

What happens when someone else uses your AirTags?

When family or friends borrow something you own or take your AirTags with them, they may see an alert on their iPhone reading either of these messages - "AirTag Detected ”, “Unknown accessory detected near you” or “AirTag found traveling with you”.

That's because, in addition to letting you track your own AirTags, Apple designed these devices to sound an alert when someone else is tracking their stray AirTags without their knowledge.

If the person you shared the AirTags with has them with them, their iPhone will be able to detect the AirTags but mark them as "Unknown" because the AirTags belong to you and your Apple ID.

If you only plan to lend the AirTag item to someone you know for a few days, that person can do so by opening the Find Me app and selecting ## at the bottom. #Me" tab, then turn off the Project Security Alert toggle under the Notifications section.

To confirm your decision, click

Disable from the dialog box that appears.

Why should Home Sharing include support for AirTags?

The most obvious way to use AirTags is to find all the keys. However, if you don't live alone and share your house with your roommates, family, or friends, and they all share keys to your house (or even your car), then others can do it without you needing to It is necessary to keep track of them. help. Since AirTags are used to track your personal belongings, AirTags can be used not only to track keys, but also to track anything that isn't already built with Find My.

Another use case for shared AirTags is to track your pet by attaching one to a collar. If your dog goes outside and you're not home, your family won't be able to track it from their iPhone or Apple device. At this point, would you rather add multiple AirTags to your dog's collar or just add one AirTag that allows your whole family to track your pet?

Since family members can already track each other’s devices using Find My, AirTags will only upgrade the app’s functionality if it supports shared tracking. And it's not just Home Sharing, support for being tracked by multiple users can also be broadcast to others in your Home Sharing group.

For example, you have a device like a headset that you want to lend to someone on a short-term basis. If you AirTagged these headphones, only you can track them in Find My. However, it would be helpful if the person you're lending it to can also track it from their iPhone in the meantime.

This is why it doesn’t make sense to limit AirTag functionality to a single Apple/iCloud account. Given how seriously Apple takes family sharing, it only sounds right if you share AirTags among your family members, as this will help all of your family keep track of the items you usually share with each other.

How Else You Can Use Home Sharing to Locate Others

While AirTag support may help improve location tracking in Home Sharing, there are still other ways to find people you share with your family The group is associated with the location of the person. Family sharing your location requires all devices to be running iOS 13 or later and the Find My service to be enabled on all devices.

1. Share your location with family

To share your location with your family members using Family Sharing, open the Settingsapp and go toYour Name>Family Sharing>Location Sharing.

On this screen, turn on the "Share my location"toggle.

To ensure that the current device is the one sharing your location status, select Use this iPhone as my location.

To share your location with a family member, select the person's name from the list that appears and click Share my location.

If you want to share your whereabouts with multiple people, please repeat the above steps.

After sharing your location, you can stop access to your location by selecting the person's name and clicking Stop Sharing My Location on the screen.

2. See someone’s location from your family group

If someone in Family Sharing has sent you access to their device’s whereabouts, You can find them by opening the Find app and selecting the Devices tab at the bottom.

#Within this screen, you should see a group of people and their devices sharing their GPS coordinates with you for ongoing tracking. Just select the device you want to track and get notified that you'll be given a range of options to follow it up.

How to transfer your AirTag to someone else

The AirTag associated with you can only be used by others after you cancel the association with your Apple ID. So if you wish to share an AirTag or an item linked to your AirTag with your family and friends, the only way to share it with them is to delete it from your account and let them set it up on their Apple devices.

Before you do this, you need to note that you only need to transfer AirTags if you don't want to use the item with AirTags or have backup AirTags that you no longer use. There's no point in permanently unlinking someone from your account if they're only digging for an item with an AirTag for a few days.

Reset AirTags within Bluetooth range

If you wish to transfer an AirTag from your account to a family member or friend’s account, you can remove it from your account by resetting it deleted from your account. To do this, open the Find My app, go to the Items tab >Your Item, and select Remove Item.

Resetting an AirTag out of Bluetooth range

If the AirTag and your iPhone are within Bluetooth range of the former, the above steps should be more than enough. If not, you will have to manually reset it before anyone else can use it. You can use the following steps to reset an AirTag that belongs to someone else or is linked to an existing Apple ID.

To manually reset an AirTag, press down on its battery cover and rotate it counterclockwise until it stops spinning. Once done, remove the AirTag cover and its battery. After a few seconds, you can now reinsert this battery and press it until you hear a chirping sound.

Repeat 4 more rounds and you will hear the sound from the AirTag a total of 5 times. After the fifth round, leave the battery inside and place the cover by aligning the 3 tabs on the cover with the 3 slots on the AirTag. Press down on the cover and turn it clockwise until it is in the locked position.

Your AirTag has now been reset and can now be linked to another Apple device/ID.

Set AirTag as new

To add an AirTag to someone's iPhone, hold the AirTag close to your iPhone/iPad and tap Connect button.

Another way is to open the Find My app and go to the Items tab> Add Item.

In the pop-up window that appears, select Add AirTag.

The app will now search for AirTags around you, so make sure your iPhone and AirTags are close.

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